Early Doors

Hysterical fan reduces Falcao to tears with moving gesture

Tears often flow when young sports fans come into contact with their heroes but rarely have we seen a meeting as emotional as this one.

Michael Steven, just 13, was one of several talented teenagers invited to Spain from his native Colombia to meet Monaco striker Falcao, who is the big star of the national team.

But young Michael just could not contain his emotion when Falcao entered the room and appeared to be in a state of shock as he succumbed to floods of tears.

So far, so expected. But what came next was remarkable.

As Falcao – who faces a race against time to be fit for the World Cup finals having suffered a serious knee injury – sought to comfort his young fan, something amazing happened.

Michael started telling Falcao how he wished him a speedy recovery from his injury, putting his hand on the affected limb and saying: “This is the leg that God is going to strengthen.”

And the emotional sentiment was just too much for the man who cost £50m last summer as he too fought back the tears.

Michael comes from a poor background and lives in Ciudad Bolivar in Bogota, the Colombian capital. But now he has been awarded with a scholarship with Real Madrid’s youth team he might be bumping into some big names more regularly.

Still, nothing is likely to match the emotional intensity of his chat with Falcao.